Citation Nr: 0306694
Decision Date: 04/07/03 Archive Date: 04/10/03
DOCKET NO. 98-18 104 ) DATE
)
)
On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in No. Little
Rock, Arkansas
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to an increased rating for a right knee
disability, currently rated as 20 percent disabling.
WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL
Appellant and his wife.
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
A. Hinton, Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran served on active duty from January 1971 to
February 1983.
This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board
or BVA) on appeal from a rating decision of October 1998 from
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) North Little Rock,
Arkansas, Regional Office (RO).
REMAND
In a VA Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans' Appeals,
received in April 2002, the veteran requested to have a
personal hearing at the RO before a traveling section of the
Board, also known as a travel Board hearing.
There is no indication that the veteran has withdrawn his
request for a personal hearing before a traveling section of
the Board, and the RO has not yet scheduled such a hearing.
Thus, such hearing must be scheduled pursuant to 38 C.F.R. §
20.703 (2002).
Accordingly, this case is REMANDED to the RO for the
following action:
The RO should schedule the veteran for a
personal hearing before a member of a
traveling section of the Board. 20.703.
When that action has been completed, the case should be
returned to the Board for appellate review, if appropriate.
No action is required of the appellant unless and until he
receives further notice.
The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and
argument on the matter or matters the Board has remanded to
the regional office. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369
(1999).
This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment by the RO.
The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the
Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or
other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious
manner. See The Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994,
Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 302, 108 Stat. 4645, 4658 (1994),
38 U.S.C.A. § 5101 (West 2002) (Historical and Statutory
Notes). In addition, VBA's Adjudication Procedure Manual,
M21-1, Part IV, directs the ROs to provide expeditious
handling of all cases that have been remanded by the Board
and the Court. See M21-1, Part IV, paras. 8.44-8.45 and
38.02-38.03.
_________________________________________________
ROBERT P. REGAN
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the
nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.
38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2002).